Government seeks inputs from exporters to check shipment decline

NEW DELHI: Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today discussed with exporters the measures to curb the decline of outbound shipments, and sought their inputs on issues plaguing the sector to improve ease of doing business.

India's merchandise exports contracted for the 15th month in a row in February amid tepid global demand and a volatile global currency market. During the meeting, exporters demanded incentives to reverse the trend and requested the government to provide better market access.

Some of the other issues flagged by exporters include non-tariff barriers of other countries, currency volatility, special economic zones, problems in dealing with customs authorities and service tax.

"The issue was mainly to check the downward trend of exports. We have requested the Commerce Ministry to at least add some markets where there is better scope where the decline is not so much... Commerce Secretary has assured that they (Government) will certainly look into all the issues," Federation of Indian Export Organisation President S C Ralhan said.

"We have requested that the interest subvention be extended to merchant exporters because they buy from MSME manufacturers," he told reporters on the sidelines of an interaction between representatives of export promotion councils (EPCs) and Commerce Ministry. The previous meeting was held on February 2.

For April-February period of last fiscal, cumulative exports declined by 16.73 per cent to $238.41 billion, as against $286.3 billion in the same period of 2014-15.